Five Drafts of 'Chap. VIII A further explication of the four Empires' (section 7.1j)

Chap. VIIII.
A further explication | description of the four Empires

The Prophesy of the scripture of truth is a commentary upon the Vision of the Ram & He-Goat, & Daniel comprehends the times of the two first Monarchies in the Ram, & the times of the two last in the Goat. For he tell us that the Ram had two horns & the two horns were high but one was higher then the other & the higher came up last, and that the Ram having two horns are the kings of Media & Persia that is, the horn which came up first is the kingdom of Media & the horn which came up last is the kingdom of Persia. The kingdom of Persia is the second Empire & the kingdom of Media was contemporary to the first. And as the Ram in the reign of his first horn comprehends the times of the first horn & in the reign of his second horn is the second Empire, so the Goat in the reign of his five first horns is the third Empire & in the reign of his last horn comprehends the times of the fourth.

For Daniel tells us that the Goat had a notable horn between his eyes & waxed very great & when it was strong the great horn was broken & for it came up four notable ones towards the four winds of heaven. And in explaining this he saith that the rough Goat is the king of Greece & the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power. In all this Prophesy Daniel's kings are kingdoms. The kings of Media & Persia are the kingdoms of Media & Persia, & the k4ing of Greece is the kingdom of Greece, & the first king is the first kingdom. It is not the person of Alexander the great but his kingdom in a monarchical form during his own reign & the reign of his brother Arid{æ}{œ}us & son Alexander. For this king was succeeded by four kingdoms & kingdoms did not come in the room of Alexanders person but in the room of his kingdom. Now by all this it is manifest that the Goat in the reign of these horns is the Greek Empire or third Monarchy represented by the Leopard; the four horns of the Goat & the four heads & four wings of the Leopard signifying one & the same thing

Daniel tells us further that out of one of the four horns came forth a little horn which waxed exceeding <2r> great, and in explaining this he saith that in the end of their kingdom when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance & understanding dark sentences shall stand up & his power shall be mighty but not by his own power. All which is as much to say, that in the end of the kingdom of the Leopard when his dominion shall be taken away by his successor the fourth Beast, his life shall be prolonged & he shall still be mighty but not by his own power; that is, that the Greeks, after their proper dominion shall be taken away by the Romans, shall flourish under the administration of the Romans & be mighty by their power. And therefore the Goat in the reign of the last horn was contemporary to the fourth Empire.

The Goat & Leopard are one & the same kingdom, & reign by their own power untill their dominion is taken away, & survive the loss of their dominion, & therefore after their dominion is taken away reign by & under the power of another. In the vision of the four Beasts Daniel describes only the reign of the Leopard by his own power & tells you that after his dominion is taken away his life shall be – prolonged: in the vision of the Goat he repeats the reign of the Leopard by his own power which lasts untill the end of the kingdom of the four horns of the Goat, & then under the type of the Goat reigning in a new horn he describes the life & actions of the Leopard after his dominion is taken away & tells you that his power shall be mighty but not by his own power. He represents this horn great above all the former horns, exceeding great in breadth eastward & southward & great in height up to the stars of heaven but not by his own power. And such a greatness can signify nothing less then the mighty power of the Greeks by & under the administration of the Romans; this being the only power in the world that has hitherto been greater then the power of Alexander the great. So then the Goat in the reign of the last horn is the Leopard surviving the loss of his dominion & being still mighty but not by his own power, & living in this state till the stone falls upon the feet of the Image & breaks in pieces all the four parts of the image at once, that is, till the end of the fourth Empire. For the nations of the Greeks in Europe Asia Syria & Egypt are still mighty but not by their own power. They were formerly mighty by the power of the Romans & they are now mighty by the power of the Turks, & Daniel tells us that the vision of the Goat reigning in his last horn is at the time of the end & in the last end of the indignation (Dan. VIII.17, 19) that is, it reaches to the end of all Daniels visions & to the last end of the Iewish captivity.

The last horn of the Goat is by some taken for Antiochus <3r> Epiphanes, but very injudiciously. A horn of a Beast is never taken for single person. A new horn always signifies a new kingdom, & the kingdom of Antiochus was an old one. Antiochus reigned over one of the four horns, & the little horn was at first a little one & waxed exceeding great & so did not Antiochus. It is described great above all the former horns & so was not Antiochus. His kingdom on the contrary was weake & tributary to the Romans & he did not enlarge it. The horn was a king of fierce countenance & destroyed wonderfully & prospered in his practices against the holy people, but Antiochus was frighted out of Egypt by a mere message of the Romans & afterwards routed & baffled by the Iews. The horn was mighty in anothers power, Antiochus acted by his own. The horn cast down the sanctuary to the grownd, & so did not Antiochus. The sanctuary & host were trampled under foot 2300 days & in Daniels prophesies, day are put for years. These things were to last till the last end of the Indignation against the Iews & this Indignation is not yet at an end. In the first year of his reign he granted a licence to the transgressors of the holy covenant to teach the customes of the heathens in Iudea, in the sixt year he spoiled the Temple, in the eighth he set up the heathen worship in the Temple & in all Iudea, & in the eleventh the Temple was cleansed, & none of these periods answer to the 2300 days. The Iews kept no account of time by days longer then a month. They counted the age of the Moon or days of the Month, & the Moons or Months in a year, but their years consisted of no certain number of days: and for Daniel to tell the Iews of an exact period of 2300 natural days when they had no method in use of counting that number nor could determin by their years & months the number of days in any time past, would have been very improper. And therefore days in this prophesy as well as in all the rest of Daniel's prophesies, are types of years, & the 2300 years are not yet expired

Yet the little horn began to grow great in the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes or soon after. For as the two horns of the Ram continued standing together upon his head till the Goat smote him & brake both his horns, & yet the Medes were conquered by the Persians long before, so we are to conceive that the four horns of the Goat, notwithstanding any conquests that they may make upon one another, continue standing together upon the head of the Goat untill they begin to fall by a forreign power, that is, untill the 8^th year of Antiochus Epiphanes when the Romans conquered the kingdom of Macedon which was one of the four. All this was the time of their reign & the end or last time of their kingdom was <4r> the time of their falling. And Daniel tells us that in the end of their kingdome when the transgressors are come to the full a king of fierce countenance shall stand up. By transgressors he means such as forsake the holy covenant to worship the Gods of the heathens. For the transgression he calls the transgression of desolation (Dan. VIII.13) which is all one as to call it the abomination of desolation. These transgressors in the first year of Antiochus set up a place of Exercise in Ierusalem for teaching the heathen customes, & in the eighth year were come to the full, being grown so numerous & degenerate as to encourage Antiochus to take away the daily sacrifice & place the abomination. The king of fierce countenance therefore stood up by degrees in the times between the beginning of the eighth year of Antiochus in which the kingdom of the four horns began to fall & the conquest of Egypt by Augustus when its fall was completed.

Now Daniel tells us that the little horn came out of one of the four horns, that is, it grew out of the side thereof as a branch, so that the horn & its branch appeared together in the form of two horns upon one base the lesser of which grew out of the greater, & this signifies the division of one of the four kingdoms into two, the lesser of which arises & increases out of the substance of the greater. Daniel tells us also that this little horn waxed exceeding great toward the south & toward the east & toward the pleasant land, & therefore it arose in the northwest quarter of the Empire of the Greeks & conquered southward & eastward. And in expounding this vision Daniel tells us that in the end of the kingdom of the four horns when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance shall stand up & be mighty but not by his own power, that is, the little horn shall stand up over the nations of the Greeks by conquering southward & eastward & thereby become exceeding great but not by his own power. And by all this I conclude that the little horn is the kingdom of Pergamus.

For that kingdom arose in the western border of Asia minor which was the western side of the northern horn. It was at first exceeding little being only a castle with a small district. By degrees it increased in power & at length took from the northern horn almost all Asia on this side the mountain Taurus, & beating also the Gauls to whom it had been tributary, the governor of Pergamus was saluted king by his army. Thus it grew on the side & out of the substance of the northern horn in form of a little horn. Afterwards it lost part of its territories to Antiochus the great, but recovered all again by the assistance of the Romans. And continuing in strickt <5r> league with the Romans it assisted them in conquering the Kingdom of Macedon Sept. 5^th in the eighth year of Antiochus, An. Philip. 156, Ann. Seleuc. 145, An. Sam. 933, An. Abr. 1883. However it continued still a little horn, but soon after (An. Sam. 969) by the last will & testament of its last king Attalus, it became a king of fierce countenance mighty in power but not by its own power. It was not conquered, broken to pieces & destroyed but inherited by the Romans & continued in their hands as a legacy or gift. They succeeded Attalus in the throne of this kingdom by a legal right & reigned over it in the room of its kings as their heirs & successors, & by their administration management & assistance it became a king or kingdom of fierce countenance. Then it conquered the kingdom of Syria An. Sam. 1037 & the kingdom of Iudea An. Sam. 1038, & the kingdom of Egypt An. Sam. 1071, & by conquering those three kingdoms it stood up & waxed exceeding great towards the south & towards the east & towards the pleasant land, but not by its own power. And by conquering the Iews it waxed great even to the host of heaven or Church of God & by its dominion over them & the Christians it cast down some of the host or Church & of the stars to the grownd. Then it magnified it self to the Prince of the host, & took away his daily worship & cast down the place of his sanctuary, that is of the sanctuary of his host or people the Christians. For the Prince of the host is Iesus Christ here called Michael the great Prince which standeth for the people of Daniel. And an host or Church was given it by means of transgression against the daily worship of the host of heaven & it cast down the truth to the ground, & it practised & prospered even to the last end of the indignation against the holy covenant: for at the time of the end shall be the vision. But what is meant by the little horn, the transgression of desolation & the time of the end will appear more fully by comparing this vision with the prophesy of the scripture of truth. For that prophesy is a commentary upon this vision, both of them conteining the affairs of the Persians & Greeks from the beginning to the end as will appear by comparing the prophesies. When Daniel saw the vision of the Ram & Goat the Angel Gabriel interpreted it to him, & now the same Angel appears again to Daniel which a larger interpretation

In the prophesy of the scripture of truth Daniel tells us how the first kingdom of the Greeks represented by the first horn of the Goat broke into four great kingdoms seated to the four winds of heaven, & then describes the history of the kings or kingdoms of the north & south which are two of the four, & prosecutes the description down to the eighth year of Antiochus Ephiphanes, the year in which the kingdom of Macedon was conquered by the Romans, & there he breaks off & passes from describing the kingdom of the four horns to describe that of the little horn of the Goat or king of fierce countenance in these words, And arms out of him shall stand up. Arms are every where in this prophesy put for the military force of a <6r> kingdom; out of him is out of the people of his kingdom & standing up signifies making war & growing great & powerfull by conquest, & here it signifies standing up over the kingdoms of the north & south of which Daniel has been hitherto speaking. Arms shall stand up & a king of fierce countenance shall stand up are expressions of the same signification. These arms are the king of fierce countenance & both are the little horn of the Goat. Arms out of him shall stand up, that is, the little horn growing out of the substance or people of the northern horn or kingdom of the north, shall wax exceeding great towards the south & towards the east & toward the pleasant land by conquest. These arms grew out of the people of the king of the north by conquest till they became a little horn, & this horn was still to grow out of the remainder of the people of that king till it became great, & by carrying on its conquests towards the south & towards the east & towards the pleasant land, that is, over Egpyt Syria & Phenicia, to wax exceeding great, but not in its own power.

You may translate קמנן not out of him but after him, as ממלח signifies after the king Dan. 11.8. And then the words will run thus, And after him arms shall stand up, & may be understood of the kingdom of Macedon standing up first in the power of the conquering Romans & then by the access of the kingdom of Pergamus & successive conquests of the kingdoms of Syria Phœnicia & Egypt. In the prophesy of the he-goat this kingdom is derived from the kingdom of Pergamus represented by the little horn of that beast. In this of the scripture of truth it is derived from the kingdom of Macedon the fundamental kingdom of the Greek Empire, & the first kingdom of the Greeks whose power became mighty but not by his own power. For it arose from the kingdoms of Pergamus & Macedon growing into one by the legacy of Attalus, & it was fit that both its originals should be represented in these prophesies.

The Angel Gabriel in interpreting the vision of the ram & he-goat, tells Daniel that the rough Goat is the king of Greece & the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king. And that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation but not in his power. And in the latter time of their kingdom when the transgressors are come to the full a king of fierce countenance & understanding dark sentences shall stand up & his power shall be mighty but not by his own power. By kings he understands kingdoms. And because the period of time when the transgressors are come to the full relates to the vision concerning the daily worship & the transgression of desolation which was to last 2300 prophetick days, the same Angel <7r> Gabriel in the prophesy of the scripture of truth, after he had described the rise of the kingdom of Greece represented by the rise of the first horn of the Goat, & its breaking into four kingdoms represented by the four next horns, to point out the period of time called the latter time of their kingdom when the transgressors are come to the full & the king of fierce countenance begins to stand up, he describes the particular actions of the single kings of two of the four kingdoms which he calls the kings of the north & south & prosecutes the description to the last return of Antiochus out of Egypt, which was in the eighth year of his reign the year in which the kingdom of the Greeks began to fall, the Romans then conquering Macedon. And at that period of time he passes from describing the actions of the kings of the north & south to describe the affairs of the Arms which then begin to stand up. And therefore the eighth year of Antiochus is the period of time called the latter time of the kingdom of the four horns when the transgressors are come to the full & the king of fierce countenance begins to stand up; & the arms which then begin to stand up are this king of fierce countenance, or last horn of the goat; & the remaining part of the prophesy of the scripture of truth relates to that horn. And this I take to be the true reason why the Angel after he comes to this period insists no longer upon the particular actions of the single kings of the north & south but passes on through all the times following by touching only upon the main turns of affairs relating to the reign of the last horn.

And it is to be observed that the Angel in passing on from this period downwards to the end of the prophesy proceeds by two large intervalls of time answering to the double reign of the last horn, that reign which followed its waxing great to the host of heaven, & that which followed its waxing up to the Prince of the host. The first intervall conteins the reign of this horn by anothers power, or the reign of the Greeks under the dominion of the Latines. the second conteins the reign & fate of the Greek Empire after separation from the Latines. The first comprehends the taking away of the Iewish daily worship & placing of the abomination of desolation in their land: the second comprehends the taking away of the Christian daily worship & placing the transgression of desolation in the sanctuary of the Christians. The first is ushered in which these words; but it shall not prosper, for yet the end shall be at the time appointed, that is, the conspiracy of Antiochus Epiphanes with the king of Egypt against the holy covenant for taking away the daily worship of the Iews & setting up the heathen Gods in all the land of Iudea, shall not prosper because the time of the end in which the transgression of desolation is to prosper is not yet come. The second is ushered in with these words, And of those of understanding there shall fall to try them & to purge & make white to the time of the end because it is yet for a time appointed, or because there is yet a certain time in which they shall fall untill the time of the end commences. For a king shall do according to <8r> his will – & shall prosper till the indignation [against the holy covenant] be accomplished [& the sanctuary be cleansed.] In setting up the abomination of the Mahuzzims & casting down those of understanding & making a desolation of the saints this king of Greece shall do according to his will till the time of the end, & shall prosper not only in setting up the transgression of desolation before the time of the end, but also in continuing it during all the time of the end untill the indignation against the holy covenant be accomplished & the sanctuary be cleansed. For the last end of the indignation is the time of the end. The abomination lasts till the sanctuary be cleansed, & the desolation accompanies the abomination & is caused by the kings indignation, & the time when all these rage & continue at the height is called the time of the end. For as Antiochus Epiphanes, when he last returned out of Egpyt & interdicted the daily sacrifice of the Iews & set up the worship of the heathen Gods in all Iudea, is said to have indignation against the holy covenant (Dan. 11.30) so by the indignation in the reign of the king who doth according to his will is to be understood the kings indignation against the holy covenant in favour of the abomination of the Mahuzzims, whereby the people of God are persecuted troden under foot & made desolate untill the sanctuary be cleansed, & by consequence all the time of the end. But let us go over the prophesy in order of time.

After the kingdom of Pergamus was united to that of Macedon, & by the power of the Romans & under their administration had extended its dominion over Syria Iudea & Egypt (all which is comprehended in the words And after him arms shall stand up) they made a new war upon the Iews in the reign of Nero Vespasian Trajan & Hadrian, burnt their Temple, destroyed their city, set up the heathen Gods in all Iudea, & dispersed the people into all nations, forbidding them to enter Iudea upon pain of death. And this is thus described by Daniel: And they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength & take away the daily [worship] & place the abomination which maketh desolate. For thus Christ himself understood this prophesy, telling his disciples: When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation stand in the holy place (whoso readeth let him understand) then let them who be in Iudea fly unto the mountains Mat XXIV.15. And this setting up the abominatiō of desolation in the holy Land is also described plainly by Daniel in his prophesy of the weeks. The Messiah, saith he, shall be a cut off – & the people of a prince that shall come shall destroy the city & the sanctuary, & the end thereof shall be with a flood, & unto the end of the war desolations are determined – & upon a wing of abominations [or by the overspreading of abominations as a bird overspreads her wing] he shall make [the land] desolate. ^[1] And thus was the desolation completed of which the prophet Hosea speaks in these words ^[2] The children of Israel shall abide many days without a King & without a Prince, & without a sacrifice & <9r> without an image & without an ephod & without a Teraphim. Afterward the children of Israel shall return & seek the Lord their God & David their king & shall fear the Lord & his goodness in the latter days.

When the Romans made war upon the Iews they looked upon all the Iews (the Christian Iews as well as others) to be their enemies & upon all the Christian Gentiles to be friends to the Christian Iews, & for that reason began from that time forward to vex the Christians. And because the Christians were enemies to the heathen religion, the heathens continued to vex & persecute them from time to time till the reign of Constantine the great & his sons. And then the Empire becoming Christian, great multitudes of heathens came over to the profession of the Christian religion. All which is thus exprest by Daniel. And such as forsake the covenant [fals Christs & false Apostles & fals prophets, the many Antichrists who began in the Apostles days to go out of the Church & are called the mystery of iniquity, they] shall seduce men with flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong & act. And they that understand among the people [the Apostles & true teachers] shall instruct many, yet they shall fall [in the heathen persecutions] by the sword & by flame & by captivity & by spoile many days. And when they shall fall they shall be holpen with a little help [by conversion of the Empire to Christianity in the reign of Constantine] but many shall cleave to them with flatteries. They that fall are the stars which the last horn of the Goat cast down to the ground & stamped upon , & the flatterers or dissemblers are the heathens who in the reign of Constantine & his sons flowed into the Christian churches in great numbers for temporal ends, being not truly converted but feigning & only making an outward profession of the Christian religion. And these dissembling hypocrites made the church numerous & splendid in outward appearance but being still inclined in their hearts to the heathen superstitions & continuing to live voluptuous & vitious lives quickly corrupted the Christian religion filling it full of heathen superstitions & vitious practises, whereby the sincere part of Christians who opposed the superstitions & vices of the multitude could not avoid being involved in new troubles. For the flatterers pressing into places of profit honour & trust (which was the end of their professing Christianity) easily prevailed by their numbers & power to establish their superstiti
ons & oppress all those that opposed them. And therefore Daniel adds: But of those of understanding there shall fall to try them & to purge them [from <10r> flatterers] & to make white even to the time of the end because it is yet for a time appointed. These last words, as I represented above, shew that this is a very notable period of time & begins a new scene of things, namely a new reign of the Greeks by the division of the Roman Empire & a new persecution of the saints under this king. And this reign & persecution last a least till the time of the end.

The flatterers therefore now separate from the people of God & prevail in the Greek Empire & become the host of the little horn & begin to persecute the saints. For Daniel adds in the next words: And the king [of Greece] shall do according to his will & [by assuming a legislative power in matters of religion & by his host of flatterers] shall exalt himself & magnify himself above every God & shall speak marvellous things against the God of Gods & [in doing so & wearing out the saints] shall prosper till the indignation [against Gods people & the holy covenant] be accomplished: for that which is determined shall be done.

The Greek Emperors by calling together Councills of their own bishops imposed upon the Churches what laws they pleased in matters of religion. For the Council decreed whatever the Emperor pleased, as is manifest in history. And therefore saith: He shall magnify himself above every God & speak marvellous things against the God of Gods, that is, he shall speak them as a law-giver & by dictating laws against the laws of God he shall exalt & magnify himself above every God & wear out the saints. For dictating laws in matters of revealed religion is usurping divine authority & sitting in God's throne, or as the Apostle Paul expresseth, it is exalting himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he as a God sitteth in the Temple of God shewing himself that he is a God. It is sitting in Gods throne in the Temple between the cherubims where God dictated laws to the Iews, & was worshipped by them. When Daniel tells us that the little horn of the fourth beast should speak great words against the most high & wear out the saints of the most high, he means that this horn should speak as a law-giver & by making laws against the laws of God should wear out the saints. For in the next words he adds that this horn should think to change times & laws & they should be given into his hands for a time times & half a time. And in the same sense he tells us that the little horn of the fourth Beast king who doth according to his will should speak marvellous things against the God of Gods.

In the reign of Constantine & his son Constantius the profession of monkery was set on foot in the wildernesses of Egypt & Syria by Antony & Hilarion, & in the reign of Valens & Theodosius, the moncks in those two <11r> provinces being grown very numerous crept into towns under the protection of the bishops of Alexandria & Antioch & soon overspread all the Empire. They placed their religion in abstinence from marriage & from meats & in bodily austerities which are hurtfull to themselves & of no use to mankind. And for these things they were admired by all the empire as men more holy than the rest. And therefore Daniel adds: Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers nor the desire of weomen, that is, the lawfull desire of weomen in matrimony, as the Apostle Paul thus explains: ^[3] In the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to spirits of seduction & doctrines of Ghosts, speaking lyes in hypocrisy, having consciences seared as with a hot iron, forbidding to marry & commanding to abstein from meats which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them that know the truth. The Moncks were a new sort of Christians not instituted by Christ or his Apostles nor heard of in the primitive Churches. You may know them by their fruits. For they were the ring-leaders in bringing into the Christian Churches all manner of heathen superstitions & particularly the doctrine of ghosts, the invocation of the dead, the worshipping of dead mens reliques & pictures & images & the feigning of miracles & legendary stories for promoting their superstitions. And from that time the religion of the Moncks became the religion of the Empire. There remain to this day among the heathens of Persia & India certain sects of religious men who place their religion in abstinence from marriage & meats & in bodily austerities, & by comparing them with the Moncks you will find that they are all of a piece.

About four or five years before the reign of Valens there began to be a rumour of great miracles done at the shrines of the martyrs in Syria. And in his reign & the reign of Theodosius & Arcadius, the reliques of the martyrs were dispersed from Egypt & Syria by the Moncks into all the Empire & lodged in Churches for their miraculous effects & an opinion was spread that the dead Saints heard our prayers, & men began to invoke them & to set up their pictures in cæmeteries & Churches, the Moncks being the ringleaders in all these practises. And therefore Daniel subjoyns: But in his seat he shall honour with [his] God Mahuzzims [or potent <12r> Defenders, Guardians, Helpers & Protectors] even with a [strange] God [] whom his fathers knew not shall he honour them with gold & silver & with pretious stones & things of value [to delude the people by the splendor of their worship.] Thus shall he do in the most strong Holds [or Temples] with a strange God whom he shall acknowledge & increase with honour, & he shall cause them [the Mahuzzims] to rule over many & shall distribute divide the earth [among them] for a Patrimony, every country, city, town, family, trade Church, Abby Monastery &c being subject to his guardian saint & religious societies being endowed with Church lands given to their Saints as a Patrimony. As God is in scripture frequently called the rock & fortres & tower of his people, & his Temple the sanctuary of strength: so fals Gods are called the rocks of the nations & by Daniel Mahuzzims & their temples strong holds. And as the lands given to the Bishop of Rome are said to be given to S^t Peter & are called Peters Patrimony; so the lands given to Abbies Monasteries & other religious societies are the Patrimony of the saints to whom the Societies with their lands are dedicated.

Now this king by magnifying himself above every God & speaking mervellous things in his laws against the God of Gods & together with a strange God whom his fathers knew not honouring Mahuzzims in the Temples with gold & silver & with gemms & things of value, that is with altars & pictures & other presents adorned with gold & silver & gemms took away the dayly worship & set up the abomination of desolation in the Christian cities & towns as the old Romans had done before in the Iewish. All which Daniel has thus described in his vision of the last horn of the He-Goat. Yea he magnified himself even to the Prince of the host [that is, to Iesus Christ] & by him the dayly worship [of the people of the Prince the Christians] was taken away & the place of his sanctuary [or places of meeting to worship him] was cast down. And an host [or great multitude of transgressors, the flatterers going over to him,] was given him in transgression [the transgression of the Mahuzzims called afterwards the transgression of desolation] & it cast down the truth to the ground & it practised & prospered. This practicing & prospering relates to the time of the end: for the vision is said to be at the time of the end & in the last end of the indignation. The setting up the transgression was attempted by Antiochus Epiphanes but was not then to prosper because the time of the end was not come. It was not to prosper till the time of the end. And therefore since the king who doth according to his will prospers till the indignation be accomplished, he reigns till the time of end & in it, & the worship of the Mahuzzims continues till the sanctuary be cleansed. For the time of the end is now commencing.

For after the invocation of Saints & the veneration of their pictures & reliques were established: the empire of the Saracens rose up in the south & made lasting wars upon the Greek Empire, taking some countries from the Greeks & besieging Constantinople several times. And after the reign of the Saracens, <13r> the Empire of the Turks rose up in the north & conquered the Greek empire & extended its conquests gradually over Syria Phœnicia Arabia Egypt Libya & Ethiopia, reigning over all these countries to this day. All which is thus described by Daniel. And at the time of the end the king of the south shall push at him & the king of the north shall come against him like a whirle-winde with chariots & with horsmen & with many ships, & he shall enter into the countries [of the Greeks] & shall overflow [them] & pass over [by conquering their Empire.] He shall enter also into the glorious land [of Iudea] & many countries [in those parts] shall be overflown. But these shall escape out of his hands, even Edom & Moab & the chief of the children of Ammon, [that is, Arabia Petrœa not yet conquered.] He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the [remoter] countries & the land of Egypt shall not escape, but he shall have power over the treasures of gold & of silver & over all the pretious things of Egypt, & the Libyans & Ethiopians shall be in his progress.

But tidings out of the east & out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy & utterly to make away many. And [his kingdome being the little horn of the Goat which stands up against the Prince of Princes] he shall plant the tabernacle of his palace between the [mediterranean & dead] seas in the glorious holy mountain [in a place called in the Hebrew tongue Ar-ma-geddon], yet he shall come to his end [in the battel of God] & none shall help him. And at that time [when he shall go forth with great fury to destroy] shall Michael stand up [against him] the great Prince who [in the battel of the great day of God almighty against the kings of the east] standeth for the children of thy people, [the Prince of the host, the Prince of Princes against whom the little horn of the Goat stands up, the son of man who cometh with the clouds to the ancient of days, the word of God which a two edged sword coming out of his mouth, this Michael shall stand up as in the war against the Dragon] & there shall be a time of trouble such as there never was since there was a nation even unto that same time. And at that time thy people shall be delivered [from the tribulation] every one that shall be found written in the book. [For the ancient of days shall sit in judgment whose garment is white as snow & the hair of his head like pure wooll & his throne like the fiery flames & from whose face the heavens & earth flee away & the books shall be opened] & many of them that sleep in the dust shall awake, some to everlasting life & some to shame & everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament & they that turn many to righteousness as the stars <14r> for ever & ever. – But go thou thy way [Daniel] for thou shalt rest & stand in thy lot [amongst them that awake out of the dust] in the end of the days.

Thus Daniel in this prophesy of the scripture of truth hath described by steps the chief actions & revolutions within the compass of the Greek empire in all ages from the reign of Alexander the great to the resurrection of the dead. And in doing this he hath distinguished the times into three or four cardinall periods. The first is of the reign of the Greeks untill the Romans began to conquer them. The second is of the Romans over the Greeks untill the division of their Empire into the Empires of the Greeks & Latines. The third is of the Greek Empire at Constantinople after separation from the Latines untill the rise & reign of the Mahometans. And the fourth is of the Mahometans reigning successively in the south & north & making war upon the Greeks. And these periods are distinguished from one another by saying in the beginning of the second & again in the beginning of the third that the end is yet for a time appointed & calling the fourth the time of the end. The first lasted till the transgressors came to the full. The second began with the practises against the daily worship of the Iews, the third with the rise & reign of the religion of the Moncks, & the fourth with the rise & reign of the religion of the Mahometans. In the second the abomination of the heathens was set up in all Iudea, & was endeavoured by many persecutions to be set up among the Christians; in the third the abomination of the Moncks of invoking the dead, which is a breach of the first commandment, was set up among the Christians in all the empire in the fourth the Monckish abomination of worshipping pictures or images which is a breach of the second commandment, was also set up in all the Empire; & these abominations made a desolation of Gods people wherever they were set up, which desolation continued all the time of the end untill the cleansing of the sanctuary.

And its observable that the first acts against the holy covenant (after the transgressors were come to the full) was in autumn in the Iudaic year of Seleucus 143 when Antiochus Epiphanes returned out of Egypt & spoiled the Temple (1 Maccab. 1.20,) & that the last act of setting up the abomination was in the beginning of the year of Christ 842 & end of the Iudaic year of Seleucus 1153 when a Council called at Constantinople by the Empress Theodora & her son Michael, decreed that Pictures Images which had been condemned & thrown down by some former Emperors, should be set up again & venerated as before, & a festival was instituted to be kept annually on Feb. 11 in memory of their restitution: & that the difference between these two periods being 1010 Iudaic years, is the same with the difference between the 2300 & the 1290 days, putting a prophetick day for a Iudaic year.

And it's further observable that Daniel describes the last end of all these things by three steps or successive events. The first event is the fall of the last horn of the fourth Beast in the end of a time times & a half a time. The second event is the fall of the last horn of the Goat in the end of the indignation when God shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people & the sanctuary <15r> shall be cleansed For this horn lasts till the indignation be accomplished, Dan. 8.19. & 11.36. And the third event is at the resurrection of Daniel & by consequence at the day of judgment. But of that day & hour knoweth no man. Now these three events he describes in this manner. 1 And one said to the man cloathed in linnen who was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders? And I heard the man cloathed in linnen who was upon the waters of the river when he lift up his right hand & his left unto heaven & sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time times & an half.

2 And [after that] when he shall have [] accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people all these things shall be finished. And I heard but I understood not. Then said I, O my Lord what shall be the end of these things [when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people & all these things shall be finished?] And he said – from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away & the abomination that maketh desolate set up [unto that accomplishment] there shall be untill he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people a thousand two hundred & ninety days.

3 Blessed is he that waiteth & ] cometh to the thousand three hundred & five & thirty days. For then all these things shall be finished But go thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest & stand in thy lot at the end of the days.

The he-goat in the reign of his last horn is called by the Apostles the man of sin from the transgression of desolation set up by him & the Antichrist from his standing up against the Prince of Princes. And because he magnifies & exalts himself above every God & speaks marvellous things against the God of Gods & reigns (but notalways in his own power) till the last end of the indignation & till the sanctuary be cleansed therefore the man of sin is said to oppose & exalt himself above every thing that is called God or that is worshipped & to sit in the temple of God & continue till Christ destroys him with sword of his mouth & the brightness of his coming. He is also represented by the Dragon in the Apocalypse & from his idolatry called the devil & Satan & his host or Church is thence called the synagogue of Satan; & because the little horn of the Goat was the kingdom of Pergamus, this Satan is there said to have his seat or throne in Pergamus.

Daniel tells us that the words [of the prophesy of the scripture of truth] are shut up & the book [of this prophesy] is sealed till the time of the end. The seales of this book ( ) are opened in the Apocalyps. & then follows the time of the end called in the new Testament the latter times & the latter days. Then many, saith Daniel, shall run to & fro & knowledge shall be increased. And many shall be purified & made white & tried [by persecutions,] but the wicked shall do wickedly. And none of the wicked shall understand [these things] but the wise shall understand, & knowledge shall be encreased till the Gospel be preached in all nations. –

The four Empires being described by the Image of four metalls & again by the vision of the four Beasts; & the third Empire being more fully described by the vision of the he-goat & still more fully by the prophesy of the scripture of truth: a fuller description of the fourth empire was reserved for the <16r> visions of Iohn in the times of the gospel. Daniels prophesies began with the times of the Babylonian captivity; Iohn's prophesy was in the beginning of the Roman captivity; & the relation of the two captivities to one another is represented in Iohn's by giving the name of Babylon to Rome.

The History of the four Monarchies with relation to sacred Prophesy.

The first Part Of the four Kingdoms represented by the four Beasts.

That Beasts in Daniel are put for Kingdoms is there so plainly interpreted that it cannot be disputed. And so that the the same four kingdoms are signified by the four Beasts & by the four parts of Nebuchadnezzars image & by consequence the Baby
lonian Monarchy by the first Beast (as Daniel interprets , chap 2.38) the Persian by the second, the Greecian by the third & the Roman by the fourth is generally agreed upon For the dispute which Porphyry & Grotius have made about the fourth, I think not worth mentioning.

And whilst the whole Beast signifies the whole kingdom, his parts must signify the analogous parts of the kingdom & particularly his head the governing part For Kings, Princes, Rulers, & Leaders <17v> are in scripture frequently called the heads of ^[4] the people, & where Isaiah saith of Iudah, From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it, the Chalde Paraphrast interprets, From the lower People to the Princes. So Moses saith to Israel: Thou shalt lend unto many nations & thou shalt not borrow.^[5] And the Lord shall make thee the head & not the tail, & thou shalt be above only & thou shalt not be beneath, if thou will hearken unto the commandments of the Lord – otherwise the stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high & thou shalt come down very low; he shall lend to the & thou shalt not lend to him; he shall be the head & thou shall be the taile ^[6] So also Isaiah saith of Israel, The Lord will cut off from Israel head & tail, branch & rush in one day. The ancient & honourable he is the head & the Prophet that teacheth lies he is the tail. And so Captains are said to be in the head of the people & the rear of an Army is called the tail Deut 20.9 Iosh. 10.19. So then the head of a Beast comprehends all those who are upermost in the Kingdom & govern the rest & therefore when a Beast hath more heads then one, they signify a distinction of the kingdom into so many Governments particular Kingdoms So the three heads of the Eagle in 2 Esdr. 12.22, 23, are there interpreted to signify three Kingdoms & so the four heads of Daniels Leopard are the four Kingdoms into which ^[7] Daniel himself in two several Prophesies distinguishes the Greek Monarchy e

The same distinction is signified also by the four wings of this Leopard. For feathers are by the Prophets put for people Ezek 17.3, 7, & 2 Esdr. 11. & thence the stretching forth of wings signifies the sending forth armies into forreign regions to conquer. The stretching out of the wings of the King of Assyria shall fill the breadth of thy land o Immanuel Isa. 8.8. He shall fly as an eagle & spread his wings over Moab. Ier 48.40 & 49.22. Vpon a wing of abominations he shall make it desolate Dan 8, that is he shall overspread it which an army of Idolaters. For so the author of the Opus imperfectum in <18r> Matthæum in the beginning of his 49^th Homily tells us out of Clemeus that Peter ^[8] himself expounded it. Hoc et Petrus apud Clementem exponit. And accordingly for the abomination of desolation in Matthew we find armies encomapassing Ierusalem in Luke. And hence to signify that the four kingdoms represented by the four heads of Daniels Leopard were founded by the Macedonians over conquered nations (Greece Asia Syria & Egypt) the Leopard is said to have also four wings, that is four armies by which the heads reign over the conquered countries 

Horns & hoofs being the fighting members of Beasts refer to the armies of Kingdoms. For which these do kingdoms fight & push one another. But horns being the highest members respect chiefly Princes & officers, hoofs & claws the inferior soldiers. So Ezekiel comparing Israel to a flock of Rams & the heathen kingdoms to Goats & describing the dispersion of the one by the other, saith, Ye have pusht all the diseased which your horns till ye have scattered them Ezek. 34.21 And Zedekiah made him horns of iron & said [the the King of Israel] – which these thou shalt push the Assyrians untill thou have consumed them 1 King 22.11. Arise thresh o daughter of Zion. I will make thy hoofs brass & thy horns iron & thou shalt beat in pieces many people Micah 4.13. Hence God is called the horn of Daniel & Christ the horn Israel to save them from their enemies Psal 18.2 Luke 1.69, 71, but properly a horn is considered as the member of a beast or kingdom & refers to martial men. So the horn of a king 1 Sam 2.10 Psalm 89.24, & of a kingdom Ier 48.25 Lam. 2.3, 17 is their military force as the contexts shew. And Moses tells you expresly that a horn signifies an army. The glory of Ioseph, saith he, is the firstling of his bullock & his horns are the horns of a wild bull: which them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth & they are the ten thousands of Ephraim & they are the thousands of Manasseh. Deut. 33.17. And So the horn which the Gentiles left up over the land of Iudah to scatter it is their army & the four horns of the same Gentiles which scattered Iudah & Israel are the standing armies of four Gentile kingdoms Zech 1.18, 19, 21. And so Daniel & Iohn take horns for the standing armies of kingdoms & because every kingdom hath its proper standing army, they put the number of horns <18v> for the number of kingdoms & represent the rise & fall of the kingdom by the growing up & breaking off of the horns. For they tell us expresly that the horns are Kings & by Kings mean not single persons but military dominions or Kingdoms which respect to the military forces reigning over them. For the members wherewith Kingdoms fight & push one another are not the persons of Kings but their armies When Daniel tells the four Beasts are four Kings he means not four persons but four Kingdoms. When he tells us the Ram having two horns are the Kings of Media & Persia he means their military dominions seated in their armies For in the wars of Alexander the great when the He Goat broke the two horns of the Ram tis to be understood that he broke the standing armies of Media & Persia not their Kings For they had then but one common King Darius. And so when he tells us that the Goat is the King of Greece & the great horn is the first King he means that the Goat is the Kingdom of Greece consisting of several & the great horn is the first of those Kingdoms. For he tells us that when the first horn was broken whereas four stood up for it four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation. The great horn or first king must be of the same kind which the four which stood up in its room & therefore not a person but a kingdom For Alexanders person was not succeeded by kingdoms but by persons & his kingdom by kingdoms. And so Daniel himself interprets it. And a mighty King shal stand up that shall rule which great dominion & when he shall stand up his kingdom shall be broken & divided towards the four winds of heaven. So then a horn of a Beast constantly signifies the military force of a Kingdom & when horns are numbered they signify that the Beast consists of so many kingdoms governed each by its proper standing army. Whence the ten horns of the fourth Beast which Daniel tells us are ten Kings, must signify a division of the fourth Monarchy into ten military Kingdoms, & the eleventh horn which arose after the rest must be another Kingdom. And so the little horn of the Goat which arose out one of the four horns & grew exceeding great must be a new Kingdom different from the four.

Now The four Monarchies in respect of Dominion were successing & interfered which one another by the conquest of one anothers people but in respect of their proper nations & countries they were collateral & distinct & continued all together till the end. First the golden head reigned & then the silver Beast the brazen belly & the iron leggs in order, but these members ceased not which their reign. They all continued together (in respect of their distinct nations) till the leggs had reigned & the stone smote the Image upon its feet & brake in pieces the iron the brass the clay the silver & the gold together & the wind carried them all away like chaff; that is as Daniel inter
prets it, till the new kingdom signified by the stone break in pieces & <19r> consume all the former kingdoms. So the four Beasts arose & reigned one after another, but after the dominion of the thre first was taken away their lives were prolonged for a season & time Dan. 7.12. And therefore the bodies of the Beasts that they may continue distinct from one another & live all together after the dominion of the three first is taken away, must be placed in several nations, suppose the two first in Babylonia & Persia & the rest of the nations beyond Euphrates over which they reigned: the third in Greece, Asia, Syria & Egypt ( for these are the four heads & four wings of the Leopard) & by consequence the fourth in Italy & all the western part of the Roman Empire. For thus every Beast after his dominion was taken away by the victories of the next might continue for a time to live under the dominion of his conqueror, the first under that of the second the second under that of the third & the third under that of the fourth. The Roman Empire therefore in its greatness consisted of two Beasts, the third conquered by the fourth & the fourth reigning over the third. But after the division of the Empire, the western Empire was adequately the fourth Beast & the eastern the third. And this directs us to look for the ten horns within the regions of the western Empire.

The same thing is confirmed by the Prophesy of Iohn, where the [] the Dragon first reigns alone & at length the ten horned Beast rises out of the sea & the Dragon gives him his throne & thence forward the Dragon & Beast are, worshipped & continue together & till three froggs come out of the mouths of the Dragon Beast & fals Prophet & the Beast is cast into the lake of fire & the Dragon into the bottomless pit. The Dragon is the Roman Empire (as interpreters agree) & upon division of the Empire the Beasts or western Empire rises out of the great Roman Sea & the Dragon leaves him his old throne Rome & retires into the eastern Empire where he lives either with dominion or without till the end of the four Monarchies.ⓐ This Beast, saith Iohn, was like unto the Leopard & his feet as the feet of the Bear & his mouth as the mouth of the Lion Apoc 13.2. He names Daniel's three first Beasts in order <19v> backwards, & to shew that the Apocalyptic Beast is of their kindred & the fourth of them he assimilates him to them & puts him in the fourth place in the room of Daniels fourth. He was like the Leopard, that is fierce & terrible: his feet were as the feet of the Bear that is flat & fitted to stamp things which in fighting as a Bear doth: his mouth was as the mouth of the Lyon, that is armed with great & long teeth to tear & devour as a Lyon doth. And by partaking of all these qualities he was neither Lion Bear nor Leopard but a strange monster of a different species. And besides this he rose out of the sea & had ten horns & reigned 42 months or three years & an half & was cast into the lake of fire & the time of his end was when the Word of God came in heaven which many crowns on his head to rule the nations which a rod of iron & reward the saints in judgment. All which things are the manifest character of Daniel's fourth Beast. For that Beast was dreadfull & terrible & strong exceedingly (like a Leopard) & had great iron teeth & broke in pieces (like a Lion) & stamped the residue with his feet (like a Bear) & was divers from all the beasts that were before it & rose out of the great sea & had ten horns & reigned which his little horn three times & an half, & was cast into the burning flames & the time of his end was when the judgment was set & the books were opened & the Son of man came into the clouds of heaven to receive an universal & everlasting dominion that all nations should serve him. [ <20r> ]

Now the reign of this fourth Beast is both by Daniel & Iohn describes a double one. In the first part of his reign he is united & strong, in the second divided & weak. The first part of his reign is by Daniel represented by the iron leggs of the Image, the second by the feet & toes mixed of iron & clay. And the fourth Kingdom, saith he, shall be strong as iron, forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces & subdueth all things. And whereas thou sawest the feet & toes part of potters clay & part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided – & be partly strong & partly brittle – & they shall not cleave one to another eaven as iron is not mixed with clay. Dan. 2.40 The first part of the same reign is by Iohn represented by the seven heads of the Beast reigning before the eighth rises out of the abyss; the second by the reign of the eight with his horns The Beast that sawest saith Iohn, was & is not & shall ascend out of the abyss& go in to perdition. – And (that is, he arose out of the sea, is now slain & shall ascend ab inferiso from hades or death & go into the Lake of fire.) This the Angel speaks in respect of the future time considered as present in the vision.) The seven heads, are seven Kings: five are fallen & one is & the other is not yet come & when he cometh he must continue a short space. And the Beast that was & is not he is the eight & is of the seven. And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings which have received no kingdom as yet but receive power as kings as the same time which the Beast Iohn 17.8. So then the feet of the image are the Beast which ascends out of the Abyss or Sea, & by consequence they are the western Empire from the time of the division. <20v> This division began first between the sons of Constantine the great, but soon after was healed again for about 10 years & then revived between Valentinian & Valens A.C. 364 & was completed at the death of Theodosius A.C. 395. king

If the Beast rise out of the sea upon the first division of the Dragon thenceforward become the name of the Greek Empire, & if at the second division the Beast after he had been wounded to death revive & at the last division the Dragon give him his western power & throne for ever: we are to expect that this Beast soon after he received this power, τὴν μίαν ὡραν, as it were the same hour, became divided into the ten kingdoms. For since they are the horns of Daniels fourth Beast, & with one mind gave their kingdom to Iohn's Beast, that is to compose his body & were all crowned on his head & not on the Dragon's: they must all reign within the regions of the western Empire. And this came truly to pass. For in the years 408 & 409, that is within 14 years after the Beast began his absolute reign, this Empire broke at once into ten kingdoms & no more as you will perceive by the following history.

Chap. 2
Of the ten Kingdoms signified by the ten horns of the fourth Beast.

The western Empire continued entire till beginning of the year 408, but then was invaded & broken into these many kingdoms by a great army of Vandals, Alans, Suevi, Burgundians & other barbarous nations

The History of the four Monarchies – compared with sacred Prophesy.

The Introduction ^[9]

The Iews seem to know but little of the Babylonian & Persian Monarchies besides what they have out of the books of the old Testament & therefore own no more kings nor years of kings then they can find in those books. The kings they reccon are only Nebuchadnezzar, Evilmerodach, Beshazzar, Darius the Mede, Cyrus, Ahashuerus & Darius the Persian The last Darius they reccon to be the Artaxerxes in whose reign Ezra & Nehemiah came to Ierusalem accounting Artaxerxes a common name of all the Persian kings. For this they infer from Ezra's saying that the temple was built by the commandment of Cyrus & Darius & Artaxerxes king of Persia. Least they should make it built by more kings then two & finisht after the reign of Darius they make Artaxerxes here to be the common name of Cyrus & Darius. Nebuchadnezzar, they say, reigned 45 years, eight which Iehojakim & 37 afterwards (Ier. 1.25. & 2 King. 25.37) & Belshazzar reigned three (Dan. 8.1) & thence to Evilmerodach they allot 23 years to make up 71. For because the prophesy of the seventy years was given in the first year of Nebuchadnezzar & Ierusalem taken (as they reccon) in his second year, they date those seventy years from that second year to the end of Belshazzars reign. Then to Darius the Mede whom they reccon the first king of the Modo-persian Empire, they attribute but one year or at most but two (Dan. 9.1) to Cyrus three years incomplete (Dan. 10.1) to Athashu <21v> erus twelve years till the casting of Pur (Esth. 3.7) one year more till the Iews smote their enemies (ch. 9.1) & one year more till the Iews smote their enemies (ch. 9.1) & one year more till Esther & Mordecai wrote the second letter for the keeping of Purim (ch 9.29) in all 14 years, & thus they reccon seventy years also from the destruction of the Temple & City to the second year of Darius (Zech. 1.1, 12.) And the whole time of the Persian Monarchy during the standing of the second temple untill the reign of Alexander the great they reccon but 34 years. Thus the Iews reccon in their great Chronicle called Seder Olam Rabba. Whence its plain that we are not much to depend upon them in the history of these kingdoms but must have recourse to the scriptures themselves & compare them with the records of the Greeks. This I note to remove the prejudice of such opinions about the two first Monarchies as rest upon their authority alone. Of which kind are the opinions that the return of the captivity was in the 28^th year of the reign of Cyrus over Persia, that Artaxerxes was the common name of all the kings of Persia & that Sanballat lived in the reign of Darius Codomannus & built the Temple of the Samaritans on mount Gerazim in the very end of his reign when Alexander the great made wars upon him.

The History of the four Monarchies Compared which sacred prophesy.
Chap. 1.
The history of the Persian Monarchy compared which Daniel's weeks.

This prophesy I translate & interpret thus. Seventy weeks are cut out upon thy people & upon thy holy City to finish transgression & to^a[10] make an end of sins & to expiate iniquity & to bring in everlasting righteousness & to a consummate the vision &^b[11] the Prophet & to annoint the most Holy. Here by putting a week for seven years, are recconned 490 years from the time that the dispersed Iews . should be incorporated into a people & a Holy City , unto the death & resurrection of Christ whereby transgression should be finished & sins ended & iniquity expiated & everlasting righteousness brought in & this vision this Vision accomplished & the Prophet consummate, that Prophet spoken of by Moses the days of the Prophet whom it concerns, that Prophet spoken of by Moses accomplished & finished & the most Holy annointed For by joyning the accomplishment of the vision or prophesy which the expiation of sins the years are ended which the death of Christ. ‡Now < insertion from f 23v > ‡ Now the dispersed Iews became a people & a City when they first became a polity or a body politick & this was in the seventh year of Artaxerxes when Ezra returned which a body of Iews from captivity, revived the Iewish worship & by the Kings commission & created Magistrates in all the land to judge & govern the people according to the laws of God & the King Ezra 7.25. Till then there were no polity. For There were but two returns from captivity, Zerubbabel's & Ezra's, & in Zerubbabels they had only commission to build the Temple, in Ezra's they became a polity or City by a government of their own. Now the years of Artax
erxes began about a month or two after the summer solstice & his 7^th year fell in which the 3^d year of the 80^th Olympiad, & the latter part thereof wherein Ezra went to Ierusalem was in the 4257^th year of the Iulian Period. Count the time from thence to the death of Christ & you will find it just 490 years. If you count in Iudaic years commencing in autumn & date the recconing from the first autumn after Ezra's comming to Ierusalem when he put the Kings decree in execution: the death of Christ will fall on the year of the Iul Per 4747, Anno Domini 34, & the weeks will be Iudaic weeks ending with sabbatical years, & this I take to be the truth. But if you had rather place the death of Christ in the year before as is commonly done, you may include the year of Ezras journey in the recconing. Know also < text from f 23r resumes > [His death was An. Dan 34 Count thence 490 years backwards & you will fall upon the year of the Iulian Period 4257, & the spring {illeg} this year^a[12] was in the end of the 7^th year of Artaxerxes Longinanus when Ezra returned which a great body of Iews from captivity, revived the Iewish worship, & by the Kings commission created Magistrates in all the land to judge & govern the people according to the laws of Moses & the Kings Ezra 7.25. From this time the <24r> Iews became a body politick or a people & a City as tis in the prophesy & therefore this is the Epocha of the 70 weeks. For till now they had no polity. There were but two returns from Captivity, Zerubbabel's & Ezra's, & in Zerubbabel's they had only a commission to build the temple in Ezra's they became a polity or city by a government of^a their own: & therefore the 70 weeks are rightly dated from Ezra's.]

Know also and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to cause to return & to build Ierusalem unto the ^c[13] Annointed the Prince shall be seven weeks. The former part of the prophesy related to the first coming of Christ, this being dated to his coming to be Prince or King seems to relate unto his second. There the Prophet was consummate & the most Holy, annointed, here the Annointed to be Prince & reign. For all Daniels prophesies reach to the end of the world, & there is scarce a prophesy in the old Testament concerning Christ which doth not in something or other relate to his second coming. If divers of the ancients as Irenœus l. 5, c. 25, ^a[14] Iulius Africanus, Hippolytus & Apollinaris applied the half week to the times of Antichrist why may not the seven weeks by the same liberty of interpretation be applied to the time when Antichrist shall be destroyed by the brightness of Christs coming. This clause therefore I had rather leave to be explained by time then venture upon a rash interpretation of what I do not yet under
stand.

Yet threscore & two weeks shall ^b[15] it return & the street be built & the wall, but in troublesome times: & after the threscore & two weeks the Annointed shall be cut off & b it shall not be his.^[16] but the people of a Prince to come shall destroy the city & the sanctuary & the end thereof shall be which a flood & unto the end of the war desolations are determined Having foretold both comings of Christ & dated the last from the returning & building Ierusalem: to prevent the applying that to the building Ierusalem by Nehemiah, he distinguishes this from that by saying that from this period to the Annointed shall be not seven weeks but threscore & two weeks & this not in prosperous but in troublesome times & at the end of these weeks the Messiah shall not be the Prince <25r> of the Iews but be cut off, & the Principality not be his & the city & sanctuary be destroyed. Now Nehemiah came to Ierusalem in the 20^th year of this same Artaxerxes while Ezra still continued there (Nehem. 12.36) & found the City lying wast & the houses & wall unbuilt (Nehem 2.17 & 74) & finished the wall (saith Iosephus) in the 28^th year of the king in the 25 day of the month Elul (Nehem 6.15) that is in the year of the Iulian period 4277 in September. Count now from this year threscore & two weeks of years that is 434 years & the recconning will end in October in year of the Iulian period 4711, that is at the birth of Christ How after this period Christ was cut off & the City & sanctuary destroyed by the Romans is well known.

Yet he shall confirm the covenant which many for one week: For he kept it (notwithstanding his death) till the rejection of the Iews & calling of Cornelius & the Gentiles in the seventh year after his death. But was long after in the Iewish war which after some commotions ‡ < insertion from f 25v > ‡ And soon after caused the City & sanctuary to be destroyed in the Iewish war which after so{on} began in the 13^th year of Nero A.C. 7 in spring when Vespasian with an Army invaded them, & ended in the 2^d year of Vespasian A.C. 70 in autumn Sept. 7, when Titus took the city having burnt the Temple 27 days before, so that it lasted three years & an half. Whence Daniel adds: And in half a week, he shall cause the sacrifice & oblation to cease & upon a wing of abominations he shall cause desolation , that is to City as well as to the sanctuary. And because the Iews afterwards made new commotions in severall countries & were opprest by the Romans which great slaughter, he concludes: And untill the consummation even that which is determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

The Prophets in representing Kingdoms by Beasts & fowls put their wings stretcht out into any country for their armies sent out to invade & rule over those countries: so that a wing of abominations is here an army of fals Gods or of such as worship them. For an abomination is often put in scripture for a fals God as where Chemosh is called the abomination of Moab & Molech the abomination of Ammon. The meaning therefore is that he shall destroy the sanctuary & abolish the daily worship of the true God & instead thereof introduce an army of fals Gods & by placing them in all the land & enjoyning their worship & cause desolation to the Iews untill the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled

Thus have you – We avoyd also the force which others usually do to the language of Daniel by taking the seven weeks & sixty two weeks for one number Had that been ––– Daniel's. Some apply the name Messiah or Annointed to some other person then that of our Lord Iesus : not considering that they do thereby deny that Iesus is the Christ. I do not think their opinion worth confuting: but to shew the error of the rest & confirm the truth of our own interpretation I have subjoyned the following Chapter.

Chap. 2
The Chronology of Daniels weeks stated.

Sect 1
The year of Ezra's coming to Ierusalem determine{d}

And in half a week he shall cause the sacrifice & oblation to cease: & upon ^d[17] a wing of abominations he shall make it desolate. And untill the consummation even that which is determined shall be poured upon the desolate. For after the Iewish commotions in the 19^th year of Nero & the war properly so called began in his 13^th year in spring A.C. 67 when Vespasian went against them which an Army & ended three years & a half afterwards in the first year of Vespasian A.C. 70 in Autumn Sept. 7 when Titus took the City having burnt the Temple a month before And after this upon new commotions the Iews suffered vast slaughters till their desolation was completed.

Thus have you in this short prophesy as it is here interpreted, all the main periods of the coming of the Messiah, predicted the of his birth, that of his death, that of the rejection of the Iews, the

Sect. VIII.
Of the people of God in the days of the four Monarchies.

In Nebuchadnezzar's vision of the Image composed of four metalls the saints do are not mentioned till the head & breast & belly & things & leggs & feet had appeared & then a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands & smote the image upon its feet & broke the image to pieces & became a great mountain & filled the earth which mountain is a kingdom which God shall set up & which shall never be destroyed nor left to other people but shall stand for ever.

Here the four parts of the Image composed of four metalls denote the same kingdoms with the four Beasts in the vision of Daniel untill the Ancient of days did sit in judgment, & the stone which he smote the image on its feet, & grew into a mountain & filled the earth answers to the dominion & kingdom which was given to him whom Daniel saw like the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven that (after the reign of the ten horns of the fourth Beast) all people nations & languages should serve him & whose dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, & his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. The little horn of the fourth Beast made war which the saints & prevailed against them untill the Ancient of days came & judgment was given to the Saints of the most High & the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. This little horn spake great words against the most High & did weare out the saints of the most High & thought to change times & laws: & they were given into his hand during a time, two times & half a time. And then the Iudgment did sit, & they took away his dominion to consume & destroy it unto the end. And the kingdom & dominion & greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven was given to the people of the saints of the most High whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, & all dominions did serve & obey him.

When the Woman (in the Apocalyps) fled from the temple of heaven into the wilderness she left a remnant of her seed which kept the commandments of God, & had a testimony of Iesus. These are the 144000 which stand upon mount Sion which the Lamb having his fathers name in their foreheads; the 144000 servants of God whom the Angel sealed out of all the twelve tribes of Israel with the seale of God in their foreheads: & the two Witnesses which prophesy a thousand two hundred & sixty days in sack-cloth & are called the two Olive trees & the two Candlesticks. They are called Gods two Witnesses because they keep his commandments and have the testimony of Iesus. They are called two Candlesticks because they are two of the seven candlesticks or Churches of Asia. [ They are called the two Olive trees because they supply the lamps with oyle, that is, maintain the Presbytery of the two churches.

In the beginning of Iohn's Prophesy the primitive Church is represented by the first Temple with seven golden Candlesticks whose lamps illuminate the Church catholick during the times of that Temple, that is untill the Woman flies from that Temple into the wilderness of Arabia <27r> & there arrives at Babylon as in the times of the Iewish captivity, & after she is there arrived into her place of dominion & wealth is there fed & nourished a time two times & an half or 1260 days or 24 months from the face of the Serpent of Greek Empire, recconing 30 days to a month & 12 months to a time or year according to the Kalendar of the ancient year which was in use in the days of Daniel: And in this her reign she becomes drunken with the blood of the saints & martyrs of Iews or two Witnesses. And then the ten horns of the fourth Beast hate the Whore & eat her flesh & burn her which fire, that is devour her wealth & consume her by war, & at the same time kill the two Witnesses. But after three days & an half the two witnesses rise again & ascend up to heaven in a cloud & the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of God & his Christ, & he reigns for ever & ever Thus was a stone cut out without hands & smote the Image on its feet & became a great mountain & filled the earth. Thus did the little horn of the fourth Beast make war with the saints & prevail against them untill the time comes that judgment sits, & the saints possess the kingdom, & the kingdom & dominion & greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven is given to the saints of the most High whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom & all dominions shall serve & obey him, & many that sleep in the dust awake, some to everlasting life & some to shame & everlasting contempt.

In the first part of the Prophesy of Iohn which alludes to the first Temple, the son of Man in the form of the High Priest, dresses the seven lamps which appear like a rod of seven starrs in his right hand. And this alludes to the feast of Tabernacles in the seventh month. For then & only then, the HIgh Priest dressed the Lamps in the morning. He dresses them by dictating seven admonitory Epistles to them with relation to seven successive states of the primitive church after she began to leave her first love & before the fall of the first temple, viz^t to Ephesus in the reign of Dioclesian next before his persecution, to Smyrna in that persecution, to Pergamus in the reign of Constantine, to Thyatira in the reign of his sons during the division of the Empire, to Sardis in the reign of Constantius over the whole Empire, to Philadelphia in the reign of Iulian the Apostate, & to Laodicea in the reign of Valentinian & Valens. Five of these Churches are found fault with & amonished to repent & threatned if they do not repent: these five for want of repentence ceased with the first Temple & the other two, viz^t the churches of Smyrna & Philadelphia which were not admonished to repent nor found fault with, continued all the times of the second Temple & represented the two Witnesses. The Church of Smyrna in the times of Dioclesians persecution was in great affliction & testified against the persecutors; & so did the church of Philadelphia in the reign of Iulan the Apostate. And therefore the two Candlesticks which represent these churches are proper types of the two churches or witnesses during all the times of the second Temple. For the two witnesses are not new churches but a propagation of the old Church, Christ having but one church catholick from the beginning to the end.

After the dressing of the Lamps Iohn is called up to the Temple by the sound of a Trumpet to see the Morning worship. And there he sees God sitting upon the Ark between the Cherubims, & round about the throne 24 Exhedræ in the Priests court for the Princes of the 24 courses of the Priests; & the flame of the altar & musick of the temple proceeding as it were out of the throne, & seven lamps burning before the throne, & a sea of glass like crystal before the throne, & before & behind the throne & on either side of it, four Beasts full of eyes representing the people of Israel in the four sides of the peoples court & they rest not day & night, that is at the morning & evening sacrifices, saying Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Sabaoth who is & was & is to come; & in the right hand of him that sat upon the throne a book written within & on the back side, sealed with seven seales alluding to the book of the law which was laid up in the side of the Ark, & being the book of prophesy which Daniel sealed till the time of the end. And Iohn looked, & lo (in allusion to the morning sacrifice) in the